Supreme Court to probe collusion at Gandhi school

JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court has set up a team to investigate alleged collusion between a prominent judge and a defendant in a document-fraud case involving Rp 1.4 billion (US$599,000).

Deputy Chief Justice for Military Tribunals Sarwata has been assigned to head the team, according to Secretary-general of the Supreme Court Toton Suprapto.

Toton said it was senior judge Samsoeddin Aboebakar, who presided over the document fraud case involving Indian citizen Ram Gulumal, who asked for a thorough investigation, he said.

The alleged collusion came to the surface after the latest edition of the Forum Keadilan bi-weekly magazine disclosed a "secret" letter from deputy Chief Justice for General Crimes Adi Andojo Soetjipto.

In his letter, Adi asked the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office to review the Supreme Court's decision acquitting Ram Gulumal of charges of unlawful land procurement for the construction of the Indian Gandhi Memorial International School in Ancol, North Jakarta.

The magazine reported that Gulumal's release had sparked controversy among senior judges because there were indications that the judge presiding over the case had received a bribe of Rp 1.4 billion.

Adi Andojo has also reportedly asked the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutors Office to delay the implementation of the Supreme Court's decision.

The Supreme Court released Gulumal last July, saying in its verdict that the charges of falsifying documents could not be proved.

Gulumal, 57, an Indian national who came to Indonesia in 1957, was a former principal of the first Gandhi Memorial School located in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta. The school was founded by the Bombay Merchants Association in 1950.

In 1966, the school was put under the auspices of the Indian Embassy in line with Indonesian regulations on schools for foreigners.

In 1973, Gulumal sent an application to the Jakarta governor to buy 10,000 square meters of land in Ancol, North Jakarta. He later built a new school on the land which he named the Gandhi Memorial International School.

Fraud

The document fraud during the establishment of the new school was only revealed in 1991 by the new management of the Association, which controls the management of the Indian school.

Gulumal was sentenced by the Central Jakarta District Court in 1993 to one year in prison for falsifying documents when he procured the land and obtained permits for establishing the new school.

The prosecutors also charged him for illegally using the name of the Gandhi Memorial School to collect funds for the new school from members of the Bombay Merchants Association.

The verdict was upheld by the Jakarta High Court but the sentence was reduced to eight months imprisonment.

Meanwhile, chief spokesman for the Attorney General's Office Pontas Pasaribu said his office had ordered the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office and the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutor's Office to study the possibility of filing for a court review.

"Both offices have been instructed to study the legal aspects of asking for a court review," he said yesterday. (imn)